In Elmhurst,the 2-party Split Barely Shows A Seam

In the nearly two years that the present Elmhurst City Council has been in office, only one issue has divided the council along partisan lines.

That was an early dispute in which the 14 aldermen decided in a strictly party vote to limit the Elmhurst Public Library Board to a smaller revenue increase than it had requested.

But Mayor Robert J. Quinn, whose majority Community Party prevailed on the issue, says that division along party lines was merely a coincidence. ``We had no party position on it,`` he says.

Politics, a bitter and rancorous pastime in some suburbs, a social event in others and an ego-building exercise in still others, is a diversion for ladies and gentlemen in Elmhurst, at least nowadays.

People who attend council meetings note that Quinn handles the mayor`s gavel firmly and fairly and that the five opposition party aldermen give him less of a hard time than some of his Community Party colleagues do.

But even that kind of opposition has been rare.

The Elmhurst People`s Party has been around for more than 70 years, and for a lot of those years it was the only game in town. But in 1983 the game changed as Community Party aldermen took control, buoyed by resentment over a 2.5 percent utility tax imposed by the People`s Party aldermen aided by a Community Party member who crossed the aisle.

The tax had been adopted to make up for the loss of sales tax revenue brought on by the recession and the closing of Jim Long`s giant auto dealership, which went under because of financial problems.

And two years later the onetime minority Community Party consolidated its hold on city government, winning the posts of mayor, treasurer and clerk.

The demoralized People`s Party, licked in some wards that it had considered strongholds, is itching for a rematch April 7. But it has some obvious handicaps:

-- The People`s Party is fielding a slate of only five candidates for the seven aldermanic seats to be filled while the Community Party is running seven.

-- Of the seven, six are incumbents, which could offer a name recognition advantage.

-- Events of the last four years, such as the passage of tax increment financing laws that riled residents and ripped apart village governments in other towns, appear to have raised no backlash against the Community Party.

Even the council`s approval of lights at the York High School athletic field, much resented in the 5th Ward, seems to be strictly a local, rather than citywide stain on the majority party`s banner.

This low-key political climate stems in part, the mayor says, from superior stewardship of the public dollar by his party`s elected officials.

The tax burden is $180 less on the homeowner, on average, than before the Community Party took over, and services have been maintained, Quinn says.

In other words, at a time when governments at all levels are in financial trouble, taxes and fees are low in Elmhurst, he says proudly.

The People`s Party has a proud record of its own, says Chairman Mark Mulliner. ``City councils controlled by the People`s Party for years did a lot of the things you are seeing now.`` he says.

Among these he lists the Palmer Drive Underpass, which prevents the kind of communitywide traffic blockages that afflict such railroad-plagued towns as Franklin Park and La Grange, and the lift station at Ill. Hwy. 83 and St. Charles Road. Without the lift station, Mulliner says, flooding would have rendered the area unbuildable and thus deprived the city of substantial tax money it now generates.

``The opposition voted as a bloc against it,`` Mulliner says.

A major complaint of People`s Party officials is that there seems to be no planning behind city council actions. ``The council jumps from one thing to another without a master plan,`` Mulliner charges.

Another is that aldermen have been sticking their noses into City Manager Thomas P. Borchert`s realm, Mulliner charges. ``We support the city-manager form of government but it`s beginning to deteriorate`` because of aldermanic interference, he says.

Ald. John J. Carroll (1st) of the People`s Party, the dean of the council, who is retiring after 16 years, was asked whether he thinks the city is better or worse off than four years ago, when the opposition took over.

``In a curiously backhanded way, Elmhurst residents are better off,``

Carroll says. That is because the Community Party has supported programs proposed by the People`s Party over the years, such as downtown redevelopment, Carroll explains.

If Community Party Ald. Frank N. Capparelli (6th) wins a 4th term April 7, he will be the dean of the council. Capparelli points to reduced taxes, better snow plowing, more street paving, a building boom, a record economy in town and strong property values for homeowners as accomplishments of his party. And the city is much closer to getting Lake Michigan water than ever in its long fight to get the lake connection, he adds.